Wild Flock: Seeing God’s Love and Splendor in Everyday Life

By Susie Grade

Jesus spoke of the abundant life, but too many people come to faith in Christ and never experience it. Encountering the love and splendor of God in everyday life shouldn’t be so hard, but sometimes it is. Too often we are trudging through life rather than soaring. Our souls long to live in freedom and joy, but often we are weighed down by shame, pressing responsibilities, and a far too busy life. Jesus tells us to consider the birds, the flowers, the bread and the wine. Seeing God’s love and splendor is a daily spiritual practice that begins with opening our eyes. When God opens our eyes, everything changes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Mar 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781595541284

Susie Grade

Susie Grade is a pastor and small business owner. She is married to Tim, and they live in Denver with their two children, Russell and Lyla. Susie is a leader, avid reader, and huge fan of the mountains. She works to create, sustain, and improve environments where people can flourish.

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PART 1

Embracing Life

Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

(Deuteronomy 30:19)

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

— Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

Look at the Birds

The wild geese of Denver came from Canada and have not left, so I have a front row seat to watching geese every day as I walk our city parks and meander through the streets of our historic neighborhood. The geese make a mess, honk when they are angry, and stop traffic as they unselfconsciously cross the road at their own pace. Sometimes they sleep in the sun, or float in the water, or waddle about together.

It’s a universal dream to fly like a bird, to soar on wings like eagles into the heavens. Most days I don’t feel like I am soaring. I feel more like I am trudging through a swamp of emails, meetings, meal prep, and child care. Jesus points to the birds of the air as an example to follow in order for our souls to flourish when He says, Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. (Matt. 6:26 MSG)

Flying is what you are made for. Birds in flight are a picture of freedom. The birds of the air rest and make a mess. They get angry and they sleep. And always, geese stick together in their iconic V pattern of flight. Martin Luther, in reflecting on the words of Jesus, said, Let birds become your teachers.

Birds do the work of flapping their wings in taking flight and staying aloft. They rest in the soaring, taking advantage of the air currents beneath them. Flapping and soaring, alternating between the work and the rest through their days. That is the practice of a bird in flight, and it is an invitation to us to do the same. Flapping and soaring, sacrifice and renewal, creating and resting, labor and leisure. This is what we are made for. These rhythms are food for your soul.

Our souls long to live in the freedom that these birds know. It is thrilling, dangerous, breathtaking; a non-pretending, unhurried, unimaginable life. Jesus said, Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Matt. 6:26)

So, are you ready to soar?

Planting Raspberry Bushes

Tim and I have planted raspberry bushes in three of our prior homes, although we have never lived at any of them long enough to enjoy the fruit. Now, we are thinking of planting some berry bushes again, but we don’t want to jinx ourselves. We’d like to stay in this new house more than two minutes.

Gardening endeavors highlight the importance of seasons in our growth and productivity. Some Christian cultures tend to measure spiritual maturity by how much people do. The other day, someone said to me, When I’m at church, I feel like a shmuck because everyone else is doing so much! But activity is not how Jesus or the Bible talks about spiritual maturity. Instead, Jesus, the friend for all seasons, promises to meet us in the drought of summers, the cold of winters, the vibrancy of springs, and the rich harvest of autumns in our lives. God does not call us to a life of busyness, but rather to a life of fruitfulness. Paul says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22–23).

Like any garden, our hearts can produce weeds as well as fruit. If we’re not careful, the weeds of sin and shame will grow up in our hearts, choking out our spiritual life, and preventing us from bearing fruit (Mark 4:7). Part of our abiding fellowship with Christ means weeding the soil of our hearts. And weeding is a constant, tedious business.

The best way to get rid of weeds is to dig them up by the roots. Sometimes the roots of sin and shame run deep, have many branches, or break off beneath the surface, leading to regrowth. In the same way, we may have to deal with a particular sin more than once. Maybe many times. But we’re encouraged that If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Therefore, we rest in Jesus even while we keep watch over our hearts. What’s happening in our lives that might become fertilizer for weeds? Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Prov. 4:23)

I long for my life and for our church to replace the paradigm of busy spirituality with a spirituality of abiding. Abiding means that sometimes we are busy, and sometimes we are still. Sometimes we are pushing with all we’ve got, and other times we are just waiting patiently. Each season calls us to something different, and the real measure of maturity is not busyness, but rather the fruit our lives produce. Spiritual maturity calls us to the steady, quiet work of tending to our hearts as we pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and conviction so that God’s character (the fruit of the Spirit) has room to flourish.

In reality, even fruitfulness can be difficult to observe or measure. Gardening of all kinds requires not only the discipline of weathering the seasons but also trusting that God will be faithful with the results.

The Grass Is Always Greener

You’ve heard it said, The grass is always greener on the other side, but the truth is, the grass is greener where you water it.

We live in a world that constantly encourages us to compare and contrast our lives. Advertisements bombard us daily with images of what others have that we don’t — but we could. So, we compete with our neighbors, envy our friends, and spend our energy trying to attain what others have. Our culture tells us that we never have enough, and, on some level, we believe we are always one acquisition away from happiness. We live like the hamster on a treadwheel, always spinning with new desires and dissatisfied energy, wanting what someone else already has.

But contentment is about cherishing what I already have, watering the grass of my own lawn. When I allow my thoughts to be consumed with what someone else has that I don’t have, I am watering my neighbor’s lawn. If I do this for too long, my own lawn will die. But when I focus on my own yard — water it, weed it, mow it, and fertilize it — then my own grass will become green. The Bible shows that contentment is associated with godliness, while loving and craving more can be the root of many sins (1 Tim. 6:6–10).